I am looking to start the K1 visa process and am wondering if I am being paranoid or if there is going to be problems for us. First off, I am in Michigan and she is from the Philippines. We have been together for over 5 years and everything is great. I have gone to see her 3-4 times per year over the last 5 years. I have plenty of supporting evidence for all of this. The point is that this is a very real relationship and we are ready to take the next step. Here are the things that scare me:
1) When she was younger she did marry a Korean guy that she hardly knew. She had grand dreams of it being like an arranged marriage and she would live happily ever after. In reality, once she went to Korea she was treated like a slave on their farm and was not even allowed to live with her husband. She eventually ran away and worked at a bar in Korea until her 1 year visa expired. She did not overstay her visa even though she could have easily done so. She has also been to China and back to Korea and in both cases did not overstay her visa. So she has a history to show that her intent is not to just get into the country.
2) She does have a previously denied visitors visa to the US. She was planning to go meet her relatives in California for a family celebration. On the surface this does not seem like a big deal, but we were together at that time and I am afraid it could look like we were trying to cheat the system.
3) We do have a 16 year age gap (45 vs 29). This is not a big deal to me, but I have read that this can be considered a red flag.
4) She is from the Philippines which is considered a high fraud country
Has anyone had any experience with one or all of these similar situations? If so, did you try to front load documents to address these issues? I really want to get through this with no issues, but when I put my self in the shoes of a Consulate I could see how these things could add doubt. Thanks in advance for the help.
Several red flags, but how to get past them?
in K-1 Fiance(e) Visa Process & Procedures
Posted
I am looking to start the K1 visa process and am wondering if I am being paranoid or if there is going to be problems for us. First off, I am in Michigan and she is from the Philippines. We have been together for over 5 years and everything is great. I have gone to see her 3-4 times per year over the last 5 years. I have plenty of supporting evidence for all of this. The point is that this is a very real relationship and we are ready to take the next step. Here are the things that scare me:
1) When she was younger she did marry a Korean guy that she hardly knew. She had grand dreams of it being like an arranged marriage and she would live happily ever after. In reality, once she went to Korea she was treated like a slave on their farm and was not even allowed to live with her husband. She eventually ran away and worked at a bar in Korea until her 1 year visa expired. She did not overstay her visa even though she could have easily done so. She has also been to China and back to Korea and in both cases did not overstay her visa. So she has a history to show that her intent is not to just get into the country.
2) She does have a previously denied visitors visa to the US. She was planning to go meet her relatives in California for a family celebration. On the surface this does not seem like a big deal, but we were together at that time and I am afraid it could look like we were trying to cheat the system.
3) We do have a 16 year age gap (45 vs 29). This is not a big deal to me, but I have read that this can be considered a red flag.
4) She is from the Philippines which is considered a high fraud country
Has anyone had any experience with one or all of these similar situations? If so, did you try to front load documents to address these issues? I really want to get through this with no issues, but when I put my self in the shoes of a Consulate I could see how these things could add doubt. Thanks in advance for the help.